


Event Horizon

by jadedhavok



Series: MCU Sentinel and Guide 'Verse [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, GFY, Guide!Foggy, M/M, Nick Fury is a lying liar who lies, Rimming, Sentinel!Matt, Sentinel/Guide, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, canon child sexual assault, deadpool and spiderman and sue storm and just nine million freaking people, foggy is a BAMF, i would apologize but sorry not sorry, like so many, so many references and so many characters show up, that I kept as vague as possible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-18 03:34:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5896519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadedhavok/pseuds/jadedhavok
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a portal opens up above New York City and aliens start to invade, hundreds of sentinels and their guides come online in defense of the city.  Matt Murdock has been online since the traumatic event as a child that stole his sight, but his guide Foggy has been latent for as long as Matt has known him.  Until now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story way back in July (2015) for the Little Black Dress Challenge on Rough Trade. I finished a rough draft, and then have been prodding at this ever since. Special thanks to all of the people on Rough Trade, who were so encouraging back in July, and special SPECIAL thanks to Vasaris for the beta work she put into this story. Any remaining errors are my own.

Foggy hooked a finger around the wire hanging beside Matt’s neck and tugged his headphones off of his ear.  Matt automatically paused the voice-synthesizer he was listening to and arched an eyebrow in Foggy’s general direction.

“We’ve been in here for two days, Murdock,” Foggy said, “I’m hungry, and I’ve forgotten what the sun looks like.  Come get coffee with me at that place down the street.  The one with the waitress that thinks you’re  _ tragic _ so she gives us free muffins.”

“You can get free muffins in the lobby, Foggy.”

“But I can’t see the sun.  I have a serious Vitamin D deficiency going on here, and so do you.  Seriously.  Walk with me.  Stretch your legs, breathe some air that isn’t recycled through these horrible vents.”

The vents did rattle, and the air in the closet that Landman & Zack referred to as Matt and Foggy’s “office” was rather musty, and frankly what Foggy wanted, Foggy got.  So Matt saved what he was working on, laid his headphones down next to his computer, and held out a hand for his cane.

Foggy cheered, slapped the folded up stick into Matt’s hand, and offered his arm.  Matt caught his elbow and allowed himself to be lead into the hall.

Matt always felt guilty about allowing Foggy to lead him like this.  Not guilty enough to stop, but guilty all the same.  Foggy didn’t know that Matt was a sentinel.  Foggy wasn’t aware that, despite his latent status, he was Matt’s guide.  Foggy didn’t know a lot of things, and Matt probably should have come clean before now.  It had been four years, though, and that would be… awkward.

Matt was a selfish person.  He wanted to be as close to his guide as he could manage.  He confessed every Sunday after mass, but never made any effort to actually change his behavior.  He did try to tell Foggy the truth, but it never seemed like the right time.

As it turned out, Matt was also a coward when it came to Foggy.

The little café that Foggy liked was just two blocks down.  Foggy said he liked it because of the great view it provided of Stark Tower; he liked to play spot-the-Iron-Man.  Matt was able to hear the Iron Man suit coming from a mile away, so Foggy was able to win that game fairly often.  Foggy also claimed that he’d once seen Captain America sitting at the café, and had constructed an intricate conspiracy theory with the aid of half a bottle of really shitty whiskey. 

Foggy walked next to Matt, with Matt’s hand lightly clasped on his elbow.  Matt tapped his cane on the sidewalk before them.  Matt’s other senses, enhanced as they were, gave him a pretty good imprint of the world, but echolocation still helped.  Matt disliked clicking his tongue on principle (he wasn’t a goddamn chicken and didn’t  _ cluck _ ) and favored using the clicking of his cane instead.

They settled down at a table, and Foggy braved the inside of the café to order them both much needed coffee.  Foggy returned too quickly to have coffee but he set something down on the table anyway.  The saucer clicked against the glass of the table top, and Matt breathed in deeply.  Blueberry cobbler, with a generous heaping of whipped cream.  Foggy’s favorite.

“I got dessert. Want a bite?”

“No,” Matt folded up his cane and set it on the table. “I’m not hungry.”

“Don’t be stupid, Matt.  You probably haven’t eaten since  _ yesterday _ .  I ordered us sandwiches, too, but this looked too good to wait for. You  _ are _ eating the sandwiches.”

Matt smiled. “Okay, Foggy.  I’ll eat the sandwiches.”

“Damn right you will.” Foggy muttered.  There was the rustle of paper, and Matt assumed someone left a newspaper on one of the nearby tables, because in the next second an edge of the paper touched the back of his hand.   Foggy read him the comics out loud until the waitress showed up with their coffee and sandwiches.

And a second plate of blueberry cobbler for Matt, on the house.  Foggy laughed, because he’d called it, while Matt smiled up at her, purposefully directing his face slightly to the side.  Her heart rate still picked up, and her body flushed with heat.  Matt absolutely  _ hated _ the effect he had on random strangers, when he couldn’t get the same reaction out of Foggy.

At least, not anymore.  Foggy had been attracted to Matt when they first met, but it had quickly faded away, much to Matt’s disappointment.

They ate their meal.  Foggy had been right; they definitely needed this after spending so much time working on the different projects they’d been given from various attorneys and the associates with more seniority than them (which was virtually everyone except the eight other interns).  It was a lot of work; Matt thought he’d been used to the time-demand being a lawyer required after the hell that law school had been but he’d discovered a whole new level of hell as an intern at the most prestigious law firm in New York.  Even Tony Stark’s merry band of lawyers would be hard pressed to win against the bright minds at Landman & Zack.

Matt paused in the middle of his sentence, a forkful of blueberry cobbler partway to his mouth, at the sudden sound of breaking glass.  It came from above, and Matt cocked his head.  Stark Tower, he realized a second later.  A window broke… No, someone had been  _ thrown _ through the window. Matt could hear them falling, and without thinking Matt stood up.  A second later came the sound of the Iron Man armor, practically an everyday sound for Matt these days.  He should have relaxed, but he could still feel something in the air.  A lingering danger, something he couldn’t place. 

His spirit animal roared, appearing suddenly at Matt’s side.  He touched the big cat on the head, and sank into the connection.  He looked through the cat’s eyes to see what was going on.

“Matt?” Foggy was asking, coming around the table.  For the first time in the time they’d known one another, Matt ignored him.

There’s something on Stark Tower, a machine that Matt didn’t recognize but didn’t look like Stark tech at all.  As Matt watched, it emitted a bright blue light like a laser that shot into the sky.  It seemed to burn a hole in the atmosphere.

“What… what  _ is _ that?” Foggy asked.

Matt stared through the eyes of his spirit animal and came to a sickening realization. “It’s a portal.”

Foggy was too entranced by the sight to question Matt’s knowledge, because he was right.  There was a portal in the sky, like a gaping wound, and things were starting to come through it.  They were not like anything Matt had ever encountered before, and he struggled to understand what his senses were telling him.  They sounded both mechanical and organic, and when they breached the atmosphere and got close enough for him to smell, he promptly started to gag.

They had weapons.  Iron Man was already engaging them, but there were too many.  People were stopping, getting out of their cars to watch, pointing fingers.  Then the things, the  _ aliens _ , got close enough to start firing on people.

That’s when the screaming started.

Matt felt it on an instinctual level, like someone had reached into him and grabbed hold of his diaphragm.  All the air was punched out of him, and when he drew his next breath, he did so with a fury and rage that left him shaking as his adrenaline surged.

_ The tribe was in danger _ .

He wasn’t alone.  All over the city, Matt could feel them.  Sentinels were responding, stopping what they were doing and turning towards Stark Tower and the enemy that was threatening them.  Dozens, no well over a  _ hundred _ , were coming online, like a light switch had been flicked, and guides were following.

“Holy  _ shit _ ,” Foggy breathed, and then he collapsed.

Matt’s attention ripped away from the scene above to focus on his guide.  “Foggy.”

Matt could feel him coming online through his own empathic gifts.  It was painful to come online in an empathic event like the one they were in the middle of.  Foggy was being bombarded by the emotions of every  _ mundane _ around them: the fear, terror, and panic was washing over him and he had absolutely no outlet and no shielding.  Matt could give that to him.  He grabbed Foggy by the chin, and forced Foggy to focus on him.

“I’m going to show you what to do, how to block it out.” Matt said, voice just loud enough to get Foggy’s attention.  “You can do this. I  _ need _ you to do this.”

That wasn’t an exaggeration.  Matt could feel several of the sentinels nearby slipping into feral states and his instincts were clawing at him to attack the enemy, to defend his territory.  He needed Foggy to be strong right now, and to ground him.

Matt hated to do it, but he didn’t have a choice.  He had to teach Foggy how to deal with his new abilities the fast and dirty way.  It was invasive, but considering the circumstances Mat didn’t think Foggy would care.  He dove into Foggy’s head, and started to construct the first shield.  He was careful to build it strong, took care to do it slow enough for Foggy to learn from.   Foggy got the idea quickly, and started to rapidly produce his own shields.  Matt was able to back out of Foggy’s mind quickly, and did so with great relief.  The urge to bond was overwhelming, and hard to ignore when he was already in Foggy’s mind.  Matt was  _ not _ bonding with Foggy in the middle of a battlefield, with freaking  _ aliens _ flying overhead.

“How long have you been a sentinel?” Foggy asked.  He sounds dazed, but he’s quickly recovering.

“We’ll talk about it later.  Are you going to be able to ground me?”

Foggy’s shoulders straightened and he stood up. “I can be whatever you need.”

“Good.  Stay close to me.  I’ll keep you safe.”

“I trust you.”

Matt grabbed his cane. It wasn’t the best weapon, but it would do until he could get his hands on one of those alien guns.  Matt didn’t like guns, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t use one to defend his tribe.  The cane extended out with a flick of Matt’s wrist, just in time for him to use it to smash into one of the alien’s heads.  He ducked, swung, took out another, kicked out the leg, and moved on.

Distantly, he could hear help arriving.  Sentinels from all over the city were rushing to the battle, their guides following to support.

Matt let his instincts lead him, and Foggy was there the entire time, keeping him grounded.

~*~

The Battle for New York didn’t last long, but it left Matt shaking with fatigue.  Foggy was in pain; he’d gotten a few bruises, but most of his distress came from the debilitating headache that came from too-thin shields and the intense circumstances they’d found themselves in.  It was hard for Matt to reign in his senses.  Around him, people were hurting and crying and still frightened.  The danger had passed, but his blood was still pumping and the adrenaline was still flowing.

The Center had flooded the area with as many guides as they could, to settle the sentinels that had lost themselves to their instincts and to help the  _ mundanes _ that were suffering.  Matt lent against an overturned car, Foggy huddled beside him, and tried not to zone.

They were found there, eventually.  Matt felt someone touch his throat, check for a pulse.  He didn’t protest until someone tried to move Foggy, and then he lashed out.

“Okay, okay. I get it.” The voice was soft, young, male but not a threat.  A guide.  Matt relaxed. “Can you stand?  We need to get you to one of the sentinel and guide support tents.  Your guide is hurting.”

“I can stand.” Mat said, his voice a rasp.  He does manage to leverage himself to his feet, and with the other man’s help Matt got Foggy to his feet, too.

“So much,” Foggy mumbled. “It’s so much, Matty.”

“We’re gonna get you help, Foggy.”

The tent was, thankfully, not very far.  The guide that was helping Matt carry Foggy seemed to know exactly where he was headed.  There were a lot of people there, dozens of heartbeats and the overwhelming feeling of sentinels and guides in distress.  Matt had to grit his teeth, feeling his own shielding threaten to fall, and Foggy made a sound of pure hurt that had Matt’s grip on him tightening.

The closer they got to the tent, however, the quieter the people there became.  It made Matt on edge, and he stopped walking.  He could feel eyes on him, the attention of  _ man _ y settled on him and Foggy.

“They’re staring at me. Why?”

“Not you.” The guide whispered. “Him.  Your guide.”

Matt shifted his weight.  He was exhausted and weak, but still capable of defending Foggy against  _ anything _ .  He repeated in a growl, “Why?”

“He’s… projecting a lot.  His guide aura is very strong.”

Matt wasn’t getting anything more than usual from Foggy, but he was used to the way Foggy sounded, smelled, and generally felt.  Foggy’d always had a strong aura that made others feel good.   Strangers gravitated towards him, and people returned his smiles without seeming to mean to.

“I won’t let anyone approach your guide, especially not other sentinels.” The guide promised, and Matt trusted him.  “I know you haven’t had a chance to bond.  Coming online in an event like this must have been very painful.”

Another guide was quickly approaching them.  The one assisting Matt sighed in relief. “Oh, Sue, thank God.  I’ve got an alpha guide here in  _ serious _ distress.”

The new guide was female, and probably around Matt’s age.  “Wow, okay.  Is this his sentinel?”

“Yes, but they aren’t bonded.”

“Are you online?” The woman directed that question at Matt. “Was he online before this? Are either of you registered?”

“I’m online.  He was latent, blew when the battle began.  I don’t know if he’s registered or not.”

“Are you?”

Matt hesitated.  Technically, yes.  A man from the Center had come visit him in the hospital after the Incident.  Matt had been ten, and the man had taken one look at him lying blind in a hospital bed and labeled him dormant.  He hadn’t even bothered to test Matt’s senses.

“Can we please just focus on my guide?  He’s hurting a lot.”

“Of course.  We’ve got some portable isolation rooms set up. It isn’t ideal, but they’ll help.”

Matt let them direct him, and soon had Foggy lying down on a small cot in an isolation tent.  The female guide was right; it wasn’t ideal.  Matt could still feel the empathetic impressions from the people outside, but they were distant and deadened enough that Foggy’s body relaxed considerably just from that buffer.

“Matt.” Foggy sighed.  Matt ran his hand through Foggy’s hair, and pressed close to him on the cot.

“Can you tell me his name?” the woman asked. “We need to see if he’s registered.”

“Franklin Nelson.  He’s from Hell’s Kitchen.”

“And your name?” She pressed.

Matt sighed. “Matthew Murdock.  Also from Hell’s Kitchen.”

She had some sort of tablet; Matt could smell the metal and the glass, the charge from the battery inside.  “It doesn’t look like we have a file on him, and you… Oh.”

Matt resolutely didn’t look at her.  He ran his fingers along Foggy’s spine instead.

She took a deep breath. “You’re dormant.”

“I’m obviously not.”

“They evaluated you.  It says here you were given a full evaluation –”

“They saw a blind kid and decided he couldn’t be a sentinel.  I didn’t argue with them.”

There was a beat of silence. “How long have you been online?”

“Since the accident that had them labeling me dormant.  I could hear the sentinel they sent from the center talking with my dad about how I was  _ broken _ and  _ damaged _ and not worthy enough to be a sentinel.”

“Bastards.” Foggy muttered against Matt’s neck.  The grumpiness in his voice made Matt bark out a short, quiet laugh.

“It says here that was over fifteen years ago.”

Matt shrugged.  “Sixteen years, to be exact.”

“How did you  _ survive _ ?” That’s the other guide, the male.  He sounded completely aghast.

Guides could go years and years without bonding.  It was a lot rarer for a sentinel to do so, and a lot more dangerous.  It wouldn’t have been possible without Matt’s guide-sense.  He didn’t say anything.

“This makes things… difficult.” The woman said. “Technically, you’re registered as a dormant sentinel and strictly speaking dormant sentinels are not allowed near unbonded, online guides. Ever.”

Matt went still. “I’m not leaving him alone.”

“He’s obviously not dormant, Sue.”

“I realize that, Peter.  But we have these rules for a reason.  To protect guides.” She took a deep breath. “Would you mind stepping outside?  You can stand by the door and monitor him that way.  You can make sure no one comes in except online guides.”

Matt shook his head. No. He wasn’t leaving his guide,  _ he wasn’t _ .

“Please.  I really don’t want to force you out of here.  There are a lot of sentinels in this area that are on edge, and it could get very messy, very quickly.”

“I’ll stay with Foggy.” The male promised.  Matt trusted him, but no.  No, not with Foggy.

“’S okay, Matt.  I’ll be okay.” Foggy said.  “Do what they say, so they can’t use it against you later.”

Matt didn’t like it.  “There are laws against this.  Guide law  _ specifically states _ you can’t separate bonded sentinels and guides.”

“You aren’t bonded.  It would make things easier if you were, but you’re not.”

Matt climbed to his feet.  The woman tried to touch him; Matt could feel the heat of her hand as it neared him, the vibrations in the air as she moved.  He snarled at her and she jerked away.  He took a deep breath and squeezed Foggy’s hand.

“I’ll be outside. Right outside, by the door.  No one that means you any harm will come in.”

“I’ll be okay.  No one will hurt me. You can go outside, Matt.”

Matt went outside.  He paced in front of the door, and raked his hands through his hair.  It wasn’t  _ right _ .  Foggy was his guide,  _ his guide _ , and they were keeping them apart.  He used his guide gifts to push through the buffer of the tent; it was easy to do so when he worked at it, and it let him monitor his guide.  Without a bond, it was all Matt could do.

A guide approached, and with him was a sentinel.  Matt growled, and the sentinel laughed.

“My dear boy, you are hardly going to intimidate  _ me _ .”

He was old, and sounded familiar.  Matt paused, racked his brain to identify the voice, and then promptly flushed. “Alpha Lensherr.”

“Whatever are you doing out here, when your guide is in  _ there _ ?”

“They’ve separated them.” The guide –Alpha Guide Charles Xavier, Matt realized, picking up the sound of Xavier’s wheelchair and the scent of leather and metal– said.  The Alphas of North America  _ rarely _ left the school they were in charge of.  A catastrophic event like the Battle for New York was just the thing to draw them out, but Matt still hadn’t expected to encounter them.

“Why on Earth would they do that? I thought the Director Guide of the Center was supposed to be  _ smart _ . You chose her, Charles.”

“Sue is attempting to follow guide law to the letter.  You haven’t bonded yet, have you, Matthew?”

Matt shook his head. “Foggy came online at the start of the battle.  He,” Matt paused and cocked his head. “Wait. How did you know my name?”

Charles Xavier was amused.  “I took it from your head.  You’re really an open book, Matthew.”

“Guides can’t… Guides are empathic, not telepathic.”

“Guides are not, but I’m a mutant, too.  You aren’t far off from having a mutation yourself; your abilities are enhanced because you’re a sentinel, yes, but there’s something else about you… Something unique, that I think you got in that accident you were in as a boy.  Nasty chemicals, weren’t they?  The ones that got into your eyes and left you blind.”

Matt glared at the man.  “They told me you were the nice one.”

“Charles is the nice one.” Erik Lensherr assured him.  “The problem is we’re both rather difficult to get along with in general.  But, give him a minute and you’ll just  _ love _ him.”

Xavier rolled his wheelchair past Matt and into the isolation tent.  Barely thirty seconds later, the female guide was holding the door open and gesturing Matt back inside.  Foggy was holding hands with Xavier, and radiating peace.  He felt balanced, and the pain was gone from his scent.  His aura pulsed happily, and Matt was pleased by its familiar feel.

“Matt, have you met Charles?  Because I  _ like _ him.  He feels  _ awesome _ .”

Matt grinned weakly, quickly moving so he could reclaim one of Foggy’s hands.  Xavier didn’t release the other one, and Matt could feel him buffering Foggy from the rest of the world.  It only took a look from Lensherr for Sue Storm to excuse herself and go running for the hills, but the other guide Peter lingered.

“Are they going to be okay, Alpha?”

“You shielded them very well, Peter.” Xavier assured him.  “Very well.  Your gifts only continue to improve.”

“Has there been any luck finding… My sentinel?”

“I’m sorry, Peter.  Your mutation makes it very difficult to match you genetically with anyone.  I’m afraid you will have to wait for nature to take its course.  You’ll meet him in due time, I’m sure.”

Matt frowned, but didn’t say anything as Peter quietly excused himself from the tent.  Foggy, never one to keep his opinion to himself, made a sympathetic noise in the back of his throat.

“How long has he been online?” Foggy asked Xavier.

“Peter has been online since he was a very young boy.  His parents both had small teethers to him, and when they died it forced him online.  He wasn’t even school-aged.”

“There’s nothing we can do for him?”

“I’ve run the tests several times.  If Peter’s sentinel is out there, he hasn’t registered with the Center.  He is either still latent, or in hiding.”

“You’re so sure his sentinel is a male?”

“Peter has always referred to his sentinel as a male, even as a child.  It gives me hope that he will indeed meet his sentinel soon.” Xavier cleared his throat. “But, enough about Peter.  There’s much we have to discuss with the two of you.”

“Beginning with the fact that you need to complete your bond as immediately as possible.” Lensherr said.  To Matt, he added, “I hate to say it, my dear boy, but you’re going to have terrible time keeping other people from touching him.  I’ve been bonded for more years than you’ve been alive, and  _ I  _ want to crawl into his lap.”

“Hush, Erik, or I won’t be the only one of us in a wheelchair.” Xavier warned.

Foggy looked mortified.  Matt was trying not to growl at the Alpha Sentinel.  At least, not again.

“I’ve arranged for transport, so that the two of you may be taken to the Center directly.” Xavier explained.  “You’ll both be forced into testing your abilities before you’ll be given the privacy to bond, but I give you my word that  _ no one _ will attempt to interfere with the creation of your bond.”

Matt had no choice but to place his trust in the elder pair.  If he couldn’t trust the Alphas of North America, he wouldn’t be able to function as a sentinel at all, and Foggy would need the support of a pride in the coming months as he adjusted to his abilities.  Matt bit his lip and nodded his agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

Twenty-four hours after coming online, Foggy found himself being shuffled into a meeting he really didn’t want to attend.

Charles (Foggy’s new favorite person, except for Matt, obviously) had accompanied Foggy to the Center and into an  _ actual  _ isolation room, where Charles had helped Foggy create his new shields.  Foggy was in a good place mentally, but he hadn’t had a moment alone with Matt to complete their bond and it was making him antsy.  Someone had come by and ushered Matt to some other part of the Center for testing, and not ten minutes later Foggy had been forced into a meeting.  Without Matt.  He wasn’t stupid, and you didn’t have to be a sentinel to smell that something was fishy.

Foggy went to the stupid meeting, but he made sure to project as much  _ dislike _ as he could, and elicited several winces from it.  Good.  He crossed his arms and sat down, narrowing his eyes on the unbonded sentinel that was in the room.  Charles had  _ promised _ Foggy that he wouldn’t be exposed to any sentinels that were unbonded and could pose a threat to Matt.  Which meant that Charles probably didn’t know this meeting was happening.  You didn’t just hide things from the Alpha Guide of North America.  That was a terrible decision.

“What am I doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you, Guide Nelson, about your potential.” The sentinel said.  He was older, black, had an eyepatch and a long leather coat.  He was intimidating, but Foggy faced down the worst lawyers of New York as part of his  _ internship _ .  He could handle intimidating.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.  You aren’t my Alpha,  _ or _ my sentinel.  Who might gut you for being in the same room with me at this point.”

“Matthew Murdock isn’t your sentinel.  You haven’t bonded yet.”

“Because someone, and at this point I’m going to go out on a limb and assume it’s you, is ensuring we haven’t had the privacy to do so.  FYI, that’s  _ illegal _ and I’m a lawyer.  I’m going to sue you and it’s going to be awesome.”

“Foggy,” Sue Storm began, and then paused.  She looked conflicted, and clearly didn’t like whatever was going on.  “This is Alpha Sentinel Nick Fury.  He’s the current Alpha of New York City, so he  _ is _ your Alpha.”

Foggy glanced at the man again.  Yeah, no.  He was not going to follow that man.

“An unbonded sentinel  _ can’t _ be the Alpha of a pride, so that logic doesn’t work.  I’m uncomfortable just being in the room with him.”

“Relax, Guide Nelson.  I don’t want to bond with you.” Fury sat down and gestured for Foggy to do the same.  After a moment’s hesitation, Foggy did.  “I want you to take the time to  _ consider _ , for a moment, bonding with another sentinel.  The fact is that you came online in a difficult situation.  You were with a sentinel at the time, and you clearly latched onto him.  I’m a reasonable man, and I won’t ask you to consider bonding with a total stranger.  There is, however, another sentinel in your life.  I believe you even dated her.”

“Marci?” Foggy guessed.  She’d never disclosed to him that she was a sentinel, but he hadn’t told her he was a latent guide either.  It made sense; Marci was fierce and beautiful and Foggy had been immediately attracted to her.  “You didn’t do your research, Sentinel Fury.  Marci and I were  _ terrible _ together.”

“You both rank fairly high on the sentinel/guide scale, and I believe you would match one another well.  If you’d been online when you entered law school, you probably would have formed a bond with her from proximity alone.”

Foggy snorted. “Yeah, no.  If I’d been online when I entered law school, I would have ended up with a bond before my first class.  Matt was my roommate, and I wanted to crawl on top of him the moment he walked in.  I never did, because he seemed pretty conflicted about it despite the fact that we were clearly attracted to one another.  Honestly, I thought it was because he’s a good Catholic boy and homosexuality is still pretty taboo within the church.  I realize now that it’s because he was online, and I wasn’t.  Most sentinels aren’t likely to approach a latent guide; there’s too much of a chance that they’d come online and bond with someone else.”

“Murdock is a strange case, but he’s not an isolated incident.  We have another sentinel that is online despite the fact that all signs show he  _ should _ be dormant.  Clint Barton lost his hearing during the traumatic event that brought him online.  Sound familiar?”

Foggy didn’t answer.  He just frowned.

“Despite our concerns, Barton discovered his guide and bonded.  His guide was, like you, especially gifted.  Could have bonded with any sentinel, but chose Barton.  They were bonded for many years, and we started to think our concerns had been unfounded.  Three days ago, someone used a device on Clint Barton that was able to infiltrate and  _ break _ his bond with his guide.  He tried, and eventually succeeded, to kill his guide.  He’s directly responsible for the portal that opened over New York City, and for the destruction that it caused.”

The door burst open, and a woman and man entered.  Sentinels, both of them.  Foggy physically recoiled from the  _ hurt _ the man was projecting from his broken bond.  The woman looked completely furious, and possibly close to feral.

Fury was on his feet, holding his hands up. “Now, Natasha.”

“Fuck you, Fury.  You’re going to put all of this on Clint?  Are you going to be that stupid?” The woman demanded.  “He was not responsible for what Loki did to him, and you  _ dare _ accuse him of hurting Phil?”

“Phil Coulson is dead.  If Barton hadn’t been so weak, their bond wouldn’t have broken.  He should  _ never _ have come online.  He should have stayed dormant!”

“I’ve never been dormant, you sonnovabitch!” The man who was obviously Clint Barton shouted, “My hearing was damaged  _ after _ I came online.  You never supported Phil bonding with me.  I know how many times you tried to tell him to bond with someone else.”

Foggy’s gut twisted. Pair-bond interference was the biggest taboo within their culture.  What kind of Alpha was this man?  Clearly, he was unbonded because no guide in their right mind would bond with such a corrupt motherfucker, sentinel or no.

“Everyone sit down.” Foggy ordered, and surprisingly everyone complied.  He pointed at the woman. “I figured out who he is, but who are you?”

“Sentinel Natasha Romanov.” When she smiled, Foggy could definitely see the predator in her.  He was willing to bet money that her spirit animal was something impressive.  He could feel her bond, and the way she shielded and protected it  _ viciously, _ and decided he liked her.

“Guide Foggy Nelson.”

“It’s a  _ pleasure _ .”

Clint Barton was radiating so much pain that Foggy couldn’t ignore it.  His broken bond was a jagged, open, gaping wound in his mind that Barton kept poking at.  Foggy wanted to smack him.  He focused his attention back on Fury.

“I’m not going to choose another sentinel.  Don’t ask me again.  If you try to keep me from Matt, I’m going to crack you open like an egg and don’t think for a single second that I won’t, or that I don’t know how.  Charles Xavier was in my head for twelve straight hours and I learn  _ fast _ .” He paused to make sure everyone understood the implications of that before continuing.  “You don’t come  _ near _ my sentinel, and you don’t come near either of these two sentinels again, especially not this one.” He jerked his thumb at Barton.  “I’ve decided I like them, and I don’t like you, and I’m assuming it’s going to piss you off to not have access to them.”

“They’re both SHIELD agents.  You can’t –”

“I  _ can _ .  Are you going to fight me on it? Because we can get Xavier and Lensherr back here.  Charles said to call if I had  _ any _ problems and he didn’t mean a phone call, yah know.  I’ve got a direct line into his head, and the only reason I haven’t used it yet is because I wanted to know what your game plan was.  By the way, you have  _ no  _ secrets from me, Director Fury of SHIELD.  I know how much a man like you likes secrets, but there isn’t a single corner of your mind I can’t riffle through.”

“Guides aren’t telepathic.  It doesn’t work like that.”

Foggy grinned, “Like I said. I’m a fast learner, and Charles taught me  _ a lot _ .  You can ask Guide Storm here what level they’ve determined I am,  _ without a bond _ .”

Sue Storm cleared her throat. “Yes, well.  He’s a high eight, possibly a nine.  It’s hard to get a clear feel for him, because his aura is… impressive and I keep getting… distracted during the evaluation.  Charles felt confident enough to hint that he’d be considering Foggy and his sentinel as the new  _ regional _ Alpha pair.  We haven’t had one, as you know, since Peggy Carter’s guide passed away and she became unreachable in her zones.”

“New York, DC, the entire East Coast… It’s all going to be my territory, and if you don’t want to get thrown from  _ my _ pride, then you should reconsider how you approach me and my sentinel in the future.  Now, someone better take me to my sentinel  _ right fucking now _ .  I assume you’ve sent some asshole to explain to him how I deserve so much better than some sentinel that can’t see and he’s stupid enough to believe you.”

Foggy stood, and Barton and Romanov stood with him.  Fury glared.

“You are still my agents.” He told them.

“I haven’t been your agent since Loki took control of my head, as you made  _ perfectly _ clear.” Barton said.  His spoke carefully, each syllable pronounced carefully and slightly exaggerated.  Foggy had heard it before; he had a cousin that was deaf, and really Barton’s pronunciation was very good considering.  “I want Phil’s body.  You’ve refused to sign it over to me, but he was my guide and I want his body.  I know Xavier and Lensherr have told you to release it.  Don’t make me force the issue.”

With that, Barton turned abruptly and stepped outside the room to wait for them.  Romanov narrowed her eyes at Fury.

“I’m executing my out clause.  I’ve always had the ability to terminate my contract with SHIELD at my will.  Phil told you a long time ago that Clint and I were a packaged deal, and you’ve fucked him over in ways I won’t ever forgive.  One day I’m going to pay you back for it.  You can spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, and you still won’t see it coming.” She turned to Foggy and nodded her head.  “I’ll accompany you to your sentinel.  It isn’t wise for an unbonded guide of your nature to just roam the halls of the Center alone.”

Foggy was enjoying pissing Fury off too much to even consider saying no, which is how he ended up with the two sentinels bracketing him and following him around like baby chicks when he went in search of Matt.  But, as it was, Matt found him first.

He came barreling down a hallway, glasses gone and his eyes wide and furious.  Three sentinels were close on his heels, but they all stopped when Foggy came into view.  Matt breathed out a sigh of relief, and eyed the sentinels on either side of Foggy.

“I adopted some sentinels.” Foggy explained. “And probably a guide, but I haven’t actually worked up the courage to broach that subject yet.”

Romanov snorted, but remained silent.  She obviously wasn’t going to comment about her guide, and Foggy wouldn’t force her to.

Matt reached out and wrapped his hand around Foggy’s wrist, and his entire body relaxed.  The sentinels behind him were armed, though, and Foggy kept a close watch on them.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Matt.  I got pulled into a stupid meeting with a stupid pirate who thought he could intimidate me.  Me! I deal with lawyers every day, and he’s  _ really _ not as scary as he thinks he is.”

“They told me you had decided to bond with Marci.”

“Wait, they told you that?  What assholes.  No, of course not.  I wouldn’t bond with anyone else, Matt. Not ever.   _ You  _ are my sentinel.  And Marci and I proved rather spectacularly that we are not suited for one another, didn’t we?”

“You did.” Matt agreed. “It was horrible.  That’s how I knew they were lying: you would  _ never _ bond with Marci.  You aren’t compatible.”

“This is Natasha, and Clint.  I think they’ve decided to make themselves my bodyguards.”

“He needs one.” Romanov shrugged.

“He  _ really _ does.” Matt agreed.  “Did he pick a verbal fight with someone?  He does that a lot.”

“I leave the fisticuffs to you, Murdock.”

“He declared himself the Alpha Guide of the East Coast.  It’s a bold move,  _ especially _ since you aren’t yet bonded.”

Matt raised his eyebrows at Foggy, who refused to apologize.  “I’m confident we can handle it together.”

Matt smiled, and it was devastating.  Foggy heard Romanov and Barton inhale sharply, but was too dazed himself to laugh at them.  It had been a while since Matt had beamed at him like  _ that _ .  Foggy grinned at Matt in return, and they stood there smiling at one another for several seconds until Barton cleared his throat.

“Do you two do this a lot?”

“Hmm?” Foggy hummed, and then remembered Barton couldn’t hear him.  He turned to face Barton fully and easily signed  _ what _ , which made Barton’s jaw drop.

Barton signed back, jabbing a finger in Foggy’s direction, tapped his fingers to his forehead while keeping his hand flat, and then quickly formed the letters A-S-L. You know ASL?

_ Yes _ . Foggy signed back, amused.  Barton repeated his question in ASL, but Foggy was still confused.  “Do we do what a lot?”

“The thing where you stand there and smile at one another and get lost in each other’s eyes.” Romanov explained helpfully.

Foggy opened his mouth to say  _ no _ but, well.  Yes, actually, they did.  “He can’t actually get lost in my eyes.  Being that he can’t see.”

“Schematics.” Romanov shrugged.  Barton signed to Romanov, and she nodded. “Oh, I agree.  They’re going to be  _ disgusting _ after they bond.”

“Which we should do.  Now.” Matt said. He bounced a little on his feet.

“Now?” Foggy echoed. “Right now?”

“Not  _ right _ right now.  I’m taking you home.  They’re welcome to stand outside and guard, but they absolutely cannot come inside.”

“We’d never interfere with your nesting period.” Romanov said seriously.  Barton smiled winningly, but ultimately failed at looking innocent.

Foggy wondered how he could smile and joke when he felt like a black hole of pain on the inside, but he didn’t ask.  That would be rude.

Instead, he let Matt take him home.  No one tried to stop them.

~*~

The problem, of course, began when Foggy and Matt were left alone in Matt’s apartment.  The change in their relationship had been easy to navigate when nothing much had actually changed, but Foggy had so far been able to successfully avoid thinking about the fact that he was about to have sex with Matt.

Sex.

With  _ Matt _ .

Foggy had been fantasizing about having sex with Matt since the moment he’d  _ met _ Matt, and he wasn’t convinced it was actually about to happen.  In real life.  Maybe Foggy had hit his head during the Battle and this was all an elaborate hallucination he was having, or a coma dream or something.  That happened, right?  That would be just Foggy’s luck.

“Do you want something to drink?” Matt asked.

“Is it tequila?”

Matt laughed.  Foggy loved Matt’s laugh, it was so smooth and deep and just awesome to hear.  It never failed to make Foggy feel like he was on top of the world whenever he told a joke that got Matt to laugh.

“I think I have some vodka in the freezer, and some beer in the fridge.  No tequila, though.”

“Damn. I could have used the extra courage.”

Matt went very still. “We aren’t going to do anything you aren’t comfortable with, Foggy.  I would never force you.”

“I know that.  God, Matt, of course I know that.  I’m just nervous.”

“We could… We could have a platonic bond.  If that’s what you want.”

Foggy shook his head.  Platonic bonds were weak, and usually temporary things designed to keep a sentinel or guide stable enough until a more permanent bond mate could be found.  “Don’t be stupid.  You need more than a platonic bond.  You’d be homicidal without the full bond.”

“I would never ask you for something you can’t give me.”

“I said stop being stupid.  Seriously, you think I don’t want this?”

“You haven’t wanted me for years.”

“Oh my God, you absolute  _ moron _ .  I’ve  _ wanted _ you for years!  I didn’t think you wanted  _ me _ .  I mean, I knew you were attracted to me but I kind of thought you were a homophobe.”

Matt’s brow furrowed. “What? Why?”

“Because I hit on you and you ignored it!  You kept stressing the fact that you were Catholic.”

“I  _ am _ Catholic.”

“I know and your religion means a lot to you, Matt.  I thought you were… ignoring your attraction for me, because you thought it went against God or something.  I was okay with that.  I wouldn’t ask anything from you that made you uncomfortable, either.”

“I… You weren’t online.  I never thought that when I finally found you that you wouldn’t be online.”

“You recognized me as your guide when I was latent?”

“Foggy, I recognized you as my guide before I  _ met you _ .” Matt sighed, and scrubbed a hand through his hair.  “I’m going to get us beers, and then we’re going to  _ talk _ .”

Foggy made a face, but Matt didn’t notice.  Matt refused to even sit next to him on the couch; no, he insisted on sitting across from Foggy so they could face one another and have a  _ proper little chat _ .  He let Foggy put his back to the completely hideous billboard outside Matt’s window though.

“I came online when I was ten.  One second I was walking down the street, and the next it was like time had slowed down.  A truck overturned, one of those big tanker trucks.  I moved so fast that some of the witnesses later told my dad that I  _ blurred _ .  I saved this old man, and a little girl.  But the chemical the truck was spilling got on my skin and made me zone.  And then it got in my eyes.”

“Jesus, Matt.”

“I had an uncle that was online, and my dad was latent.  My mom was – _ is _ – online somewhere, but she left us when she found her sentinel.  I don’t even remember her.  My dad wasn’t surprised when I came online; it’s strong in my family.  He was surprised when the Center dismissed me, though.  He’s the one that taught me how to balance my senses, and because I have the guide sense I was able to keep myself pretty stable.  I very rarely zoned, and my dad could pull me out of it quickly.”

“But then he died.”

“I was six blocks away when I heard my dad’s heart stop.  It woke me from a dead sleep, and I went feral.  They didn’t realize it; they thought I was just traumatized.  I was sedated, and then I woke up in the orphanage.  There was a girl there, a guide.  She helped me, and we were friends… But the nuns didn’t like our friendship and they sent her away when we turned thirteen.  I never saw her again.  My senses got really out of control; I didn’t have any kind of anchor.  I was in the middle of a zone once, when I found your heartbeat.  I must have been… fourteen or fifteen.  I heard it and I  _ knew _ it was my guide’s heartbeat.  I wanted to follow the sound and claim you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I… It’s stupid now.”

“You’ve always been a little stupid. It’s okay, I still love you.”

“I thought I was cursed.  When I was little, long before the Incident, my grandma told me something.  She said,  _ Murdock boys are born with the Devil in them _ .  And my dad, he laughed it off… But he had a wicked temper, my dad.  It only came out when he was boxing, but I saw it.  I saw the Devil in him.  And my uncle? The one that was a sentinel?  His eyes turned  _ red _ when he went feral.  He died in a fire when I was eight, and his guide followed him three days later.  They were firefighters.  My uncle used to tell me a little fire couldn’t hurt a Murdock.”

“Matt.”

“My mother walked out on me before my third birthday. She just  _ left _ , and I’ve never heard from her again.  The Center found her after my dad died and asked her to take me in, and she said no.  I heard them talking about it at the orphanage... So, yeah. I thought I was cursed. My mother left, and my dad died, and the nuns sent Mary Sue away.  Everyone I cared about left or got torn away from me, and I couldn’t handle losing my guide.  I couldn’t do it.”

“Okay. I understand.  You don’t still think you’re cursed, do you?” Foggy asked, a little worried.  Matt got some weird ideas in his head sometimes.

Matt smiled, and shook his head.  “I don’t think I’m cursed… I’ve made peace with the Devil in me.”

“Good.  So, you’ve heard my heartbeat since you were fourteen?”

“Yes.  And when I realized you were my roommate, I thought it was fate.  I thought it was God saying, you deserve this, your guide is right here, you can have him.  I walked into that room expecting to be walking into a bond… And instead you were latent.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault.  I’ve never, not for a second, blamed you.  But, I couldn’t let myself have you.  Not while you were latent.”

“No, I understand that part.  I don’t think any sentinel would have risked that.”

“I should have.”

“I’m just… I’m concerned.” Foggy admitted.

“About what?”

“That this won’t work.  You’re my best friend, and my  _ sentinel _ , and I… I don’t want to ruin  _ us _ just to have  _ us _ .”

“That only makes sense because I know you.”

Foggy flipped him off, and Matt caught his hand.  With one quick move, Matt had pulled Foggy into his arms and was kissing him senseless.  Foggy went shock-still, and then kissed back with everything he had.  It was  _ perfect _ .  The stubble on Matt’s cheeks burned slightly, and he didn’t shut his eyes when he kissed which should have been unnerving, but it was perfect.  They were both panting when they finally broke apart.

“Still concerned?”

“Not even a little bit.  Let’s get naked.”

~*~

Matt was very, very adept at getting himself naked.  It was distracting, because Foggy kept forgetting to focus on unbuttoning his own shirt in favor of staring open-mouthed at Matt’s bare back.  It shouldn’t have been that attractive.  It was a  _ back _ .  A very nicely toned back, with muscles that flexed and bunched rather nicely as Matt bent open to untie his shoes.  Foggy  _ especially _ liked Matt’s lower back, where it dipped in and his pants rode down low enough to show off the curve of his ass.  It was almost enough to make him start salivating.

Almost? Who was he kidding? He totally had to wipe away drool, no almost about it.

“Foggy?” Matt had shucked his pants, standing in just a pair of tight fitting, plain black boxers that left  _ nothing _ to Foggy’s imagination, which was good because Foggy’s imagination, much like the rest of his brain, had short-circuited, died, and he was now in heaven.   _ Fuck _ , but Matt was nice to look at.

“Yeah?” Foggy managed.  His mouth felt dry, but that was probably because his jaw was hanging open.  He should shut it.  Yeah, good plan.

He bit his tongue when his mouth snapped shut.  Ow.

“You aren’t getting undressed.”

“I’m not?” Foggy said faintly.  He looked down, and found he’d only gotten the first two buttons of his shirt undone.  His chest wasn’t even visible, because he still had his white undershirt on too. “Oh. Whoops?  Wait, how do you even  _ know _ ?”

“I haven’t heard any fabric hit the floor.”

“Oh. Okay, that makes sense.”

“Also, I’m cheating.  A little.”

“Cheating? Cheating how?”

“Well, I’m blind.  My animal spirit is not.”

Foggy worked that through his head, but couldn’t quite believe it.  “You… you can see through your spirit’s eyes?”

“Yeah.”

“How far?”

“It’s a sentinel spirit, Foggy.  As far as I need to.”

“Does he have to be right beside you?”

Matt shook his head. “No.  He often follows you when I can’t, and then I can make sure you’re always safe.”

“That’s… somewhat creepy, but mostly nice.  You’re my sentinel, so it’s almost romantic.  It would definitely be creepy from anyone else.  You know, I don’t know how to find my spirit animal… Can you see him?”

“Not right now.  If I have before, I didn’t realize what it was.”

“That’s weird, you think you would be able to, like.  Instinctively recognize it? Or, at least, your spirit would.  Or something.  I hope I’ve got a cool spirit animal, like maybe a jackal, but it’ll probably be like a tiny baby kitten or something.”

“Foggy.”

“Right. I’m getting distracted again.” It was just so hard to  _ think _ when Matt was one thin scrap of fabric away from being naked.  Foggy could see the outline of his cock. It looked bit.  He was a little intimidated, actually.  Foggy’s been with men, but he’s never let one fuck him and he  _ definitely _ wanted Matt to fuck him.

“Do you want help undressing?”

“I… Sure.” Foggy finally decided.

He expected Matt to start with his buttons, to quickly divest him of his button up and try to get at skin as quickly as possible.  Instead, Matt took his hand and pressed a kiss to the palm.  He carefully removed Foggy’s cufflinks from first one, and then the other wrist.  He set them down on the top of his dresser, and folded back Foggy’s cuff enough to press another kiss to the pulse-point at Foggy’s wrist.

“You have such a strong heart.” Matt said.  “You’ve got the best heart of anyone I’ve ever met.  You care so much, and you’re such a good person, but most of the time that doesn’t manifest in people physically.  But you, Foggy?  Your heart is so strong, and the beat is so loud, I’ve always thought that people must be able to see it.  I imagine the way your skin must  _ jump _ with it.”

Foggy looked down at his wrist, but can’t see anything special.  Matt’s lips graze his skin again, barely touching Foggy at all.  Matt’s eyes have slipped shut, and he just holds himself there.  Feeling, Foggy realized, his pulse race beneath the skin.  His heart really did jump at that thought, and it made Matt laugh in delight.

“I thought you were undressing me, Murdock.” Foggy said, a little too breathless to sound properly stern. 

“I am.  I’m just going to take my time with you.”

It sounded like a promise, like a filthy promise, and Foggy suppressed a shiver.

Matt ran his hands up both of Foggy’s arms, and then down his chest.  He found a button and finally started to undo them.  At the same time, he stepped closer and Foggy met his mouth with great relief.  He didn’t want to stand there doing nothing while Matt undressed him.  This was better, so much better.  Foggy was completely okay with just kissing Matt for the rest of forever, because frankly it was more than Foggy had ever expected to have from Matt.  Matt’s mouth was warm, and he kissed like he lived: there was a little burn around the edges.

Matt pulled away, and for a moment Foggy wanted to protest but then he realized Matt had finished with Foggy’s buttons and was trying to pull the shirt off of him.  Foggy helped by pulling his arms free, and then the shirt was falling to the ground and Matt was shoving his hands up underneath Foggy’s thin undershirt.   _ That _ was the skin-hunger Foggy had expected from his sentinel.  Matt had his undershirt up and over Foggy’s head in a second, leaving him bare chested but still in his pants and shoes.  Matt rested one hand on Foggy’s hip, thumb stroking over the bone there, and his other ran across Foggy’s ribs.  It tickled, and Foggy jumped but absolutely  _ did not _ make that high-pitched squeal, nope, he didn’t.  Matt grinned and touched the spot again, and  _ okay _ , it was  _ possible _ that Foggy was a little ticklish. Maybe.  But, he still didn’t giggle like a little girl or  _ squeal _ .  He didn’t.

Foggy opened his mouth to tell Matt to  _ stop that _ , but Matt kissed him back into silence, the cheater.  He moved his kisses to Foggy’s neck, and spent a minute focusing on that pulse-point as well.  He nipped at the skin and then sucked a mark there, set his teeth against the bruise and had to catch Foggy when his knees buckled.

“Don’t look so smug,” Foggy grumbled as Matt helped him over to the bed.  “I’m going to find all your weak spots, too.  Just you watch.”

“Foggy, you  _ are _ my weak spot.”

“Sap.” Foggy accused, but his heart was racing and Matt was already pressing another quick kiss to Foggy’s neck and then moving his mouth down.  He bit at Foggy’s collarbone, and left another mark on Foggy’s sternum, just above his heart.  He paid special attention to Foggy’s nipples, licking at them and blowing on them and tugging at them until they were hard and Foggy was whining.  It hurt, stung a little, but in the best way possible.

Foggy was in bed with the devil.  He had to expect a little pain.  He giggled at that thought, and then promptly gasped as Matt tongued at his navel.  He could feel Matt’s fingers undoing his belt buckle, and obediently lifted his hips when prompted.  Matt pulled his pants and boxers down at one time and immediately went for Foggy’s cock.  He licked at the head for half a second and then took Foggy into his mouth, and then down into his  _ throat _ with ease.

“Holy goddamn  _ fuck _ , Matt!”

Foggy fisted one hand into Matt’s stupid silk sheets, and the other into Matt’s hair.  He tried not to pull too hard, but it was hard to keep that in mind when Matt was trying to suck his brain out through his dick.  And succeeding.

Matt pulled off Foggy’s cock, his mouth swollen and obscene, and started licking at his balls. “Over,” he said between licks.

“Huh?”

Matt pulled back, and tugged at one of Foggy’s thighs. “Turn over.  I want your ass.”

Foggy turned.  It was awkward, his pants still down around his knees, but he finally settled on all fours.  Matt ran a hand up his back, and then back down and pressed a fleeting kiss to one of Foggy’s ass cheeks.  Foggy hung his head and tried to breathe.  He’d always felt more vulnerable in this position, when he couldn’t see the other person to judge their facial expressions or get a clue as to what they were going to do next.  It also didn’t do anything for his self-confidence, because Foggy might not be completely hideous but he wasn’t in the best shape either and he could think of quite a few views that had to be better than his ass.  It was better, maybe, that Matt couldn’t see him.

Matt ran his hands over Foggy: down the outside of his thighs, up across his ribs again, down his back, around to his stomach and chest, and over his ass cheeks and then over them again.  It was nice, and soothing, and slowly Foggy relaxed.  He didn’t realize how tense he’d been until the tension began to leave his body and his legs stopped quivering.

“You okay?” Matt asked.

Foggy nodded, remembered that Matt couldn’t fucking see that, and forced himself to speak. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, just… Don’t fuck me like this.  I want to see you when that happens.”

Matt was silent for a moment, and the bed shifted.  Foggy thought maybe Matt was pulling away, and fumbled behind himself to get a grip on Matt’s thigh.  Matt stilled and sighed. “I won’t be able to look back at you.  From what I understand, it can be… unnerving.”

“It has never bothered me, Matty.” Foggy promised, because it was true.  He hated when Matt wore his glasses to make other people comfortable.  It shouldn’t have been up to Matt to ensure they were comfortable with  _ his  _ disability.  People needed to get over themselves.  Foggy would be  _ damned _ if Matt brought that into their relationship.  “Never.”

Matt kissed Foggy’s shoulder blade.  Foggy took it for that quiet thank you that it was, and let himself relax again.  Matt’s hands were back on him, and everything was okay.  He settled back down, folding his arms and letting his head rest on them.  Matt’s hands soothed over his skin, thumbs dipping into part Foggy’s cheeks.  He had a moment when he could feel Matt’s hot breath on his hole, and then Matt’s tongue was there.  He licked and sucked and tongue-fucked Foggy until he was a sobbing, begging mess, and then Matt carefully turned him back over on his back.

There was a moment of pure confusion for Foggy, when Matt backed off the bed.  He made a noise that was slightly panicked, and Matt was back.

“I’m right here. It’s okay.”  Matt kissed him quickly on the jaw, and Foggy clutched at him.  His body was trembling and he felt open in more ways than one.  His shields were breaking down for the first time since Charles had helped him craft them, and it made him vulnerable as a guide.  His sentinel was there, though, and Matt’s presence calmed Foggy immediately.  He ran his hand down Matt’s back to his ass, and instead of encountering fabric like he expected he found smooth skin.

“Oh.  You got all the way naked.”

Matt nodded and he was smiling, amused.  “Yes, and got the lube.  You’re next.”

Foggy’s pants were still wrapped around his knees.  He stared at them for a minute, and then started to laugh.  “I’d forgotten,” he admitted to Matt, who laughed against his neck.

Together, they got Foggy’s shoes off, and then his socks, pants, and boxers followed suit.  They were both still laughing when Matt crawled back up and claimed Foggy’s mouth in a searing kiss, both grinning enough that kissing was almost impossible.  Matt settled on top of Foggy, his erection sliding against Foggy’s hip.

“Are you going to fuck me now?” Foggy asked, breathless and so ready for it.

Matt made a noise of agreement, but then shook his head. “Gotta stretch you first.”

“You just  _ did _ .  With your mouth.”

“I wanted to taste you, but if you’re tight on my tongue there’s no way I’m getting my cock into you.  We’ll go slow.”

“Oh my God,” Foggy groaned, “You really  _ are _ Catholic, you self-flagellating  _ bastard _ .”

Matt slicked up his fingers, and hooked Foggy’s leg over his shoulder.  He started out easy, sliding in one finger and finding hardly any resistance.  Foggy pushed back against it.  It felt good, but Foggy had fingered himself enough to know that it would.  There was no pain, and hardly any pressure.  This was easy.

Matt added another finger, and that was harder to take.  A slight burn, and more pressure.  Foggy tensed instinctively, and Matt pressed kisses to his neck, shoulders, and jaw until he relaxed again.  Matt kept his movements slow, barely pulling his fingers back at all and then thrusting back shallowly.  The burn faded, and with it the last of Foggy’s tension.  Soon, he was panting and rolling his hips to match the slip-slide of Matt’s fingers.  He hardly registered the third finger; it came with a slight burn that faded in seconds and was lost in a sea of pleasure.

“Matt,” Foggy babbled, “Matty, please.”

“Anything,” Matt promised.  “I would give you  _ anything _ .”

He pulled his fingers out gently, and Foggy whined at the loss.  Matt slicked his cock quickly, and positioned himself between Foggy’s legs.  Foggy wrapped his arms around Matt’s neck and kissed him desperately, and Matt pressed inside.

_ Inside _ .  Matt was  _ inside _ of him.  He gasped, and sobbed, and Matt’s hand came up to cup Foggy’s cheek.  His thumb splayed across Foggy’s wide-open mouth, and his fingertips slid through the tears that leaked out of Foggy’s eyes.

“Foggy, what’s wrong? Does it hurt, we can,” Matt started to pull back, and Foggy shook his head.  He wrapped his legs around him to keep him in place and fisted one hand into Matt’s hair. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re not,” Foggy promised, “God, Matt, you’re not.  You’re  _ inside of me _ .”  It was a lot.  Foggy’d never imagined it would be like this.  It was intimate in ways that were hard for him to process, because Foggy had never felt so vulnerable in his  _ life _ but he’d also never felt so close to someone before.

Matt kissed him, slow and deep.  He brushed the tears from Foggy’s face and started to roll his hips.  There was no rush, no frantic need for either of them to get off.  It might have lasted for hours; Foggy didn’t know and he’d lost all sense of time.  His orgasm built in him slowly, like flood waters rising against a dam, but when Foggy finally came it was with a burst of white light behind his eyes.

The bond between them flared, bursting into Foggy’s mind like a star going supernova.  It was so overwhelming that Foggy lost consciousness, but when he came back to Matt was still with him, fingers on his face.

“Wow.” Foggy said, though his voice came out a croak.  Matt was instantly in motion, rolling off the bed.  He stumbled over to the door that Foggy knew lead into the bathroom, and was back only a minute later with a glass of water and a dripping washrag.

Matt held the glass out to Foggy and said, “Here.  Drink it slowly.”

Foggy sat up enough to carefully take the glass, and gratefully gulped a few swallows down.  Matt used the warm rag to begin washing Foggy’s skin, starting with his feet.  Foggy let him do it, amused.  He set his glass down on the table beside the bed and settled on his elbows to watch as Matt carefully dragged the cloth up his calf and then back down to his ankle.  It vaguely tickled.

“What are you doing?” He finally asked when Matt finished with one leg and switched to the other.

“Taking care of you.”

Foggy laughed, and laid back down.  He closed his eyes; it was actually very soothing, and Matt’s motions were almost rhythmic.  Matt carefully cleaned Foggy’s soft cock and the crease of his thigh, and retreated to the bathroom momentarily.  The washcloth was warm again when it ran across his stomach and chest, over his collarbone and down his arm.  Foggy held up his other arm for Matt, and smiled when Matt laughed.

“Turn over.” Matt encouraged, touching Foggy’s hip.

With a groan, Foggy did so.  It took a surprising amount of effort.  His limbs felt like jelly.  He felt Matt leave again, and then the cloth was running along the length of his spine.  Matt moved more efficiently, with quick swipes of the cloth over his back and then down his legs.  It dipped briefly between his asscheeks, but then was gone.

Matt crawled back into the bed, running his lips over Foggy’s cheekbone.  Foggy hummed, sleepy and content, as Matt plastered himself along Foggy’s back.

“Love you.” Foggy muttered.

“I love you, too, Foggy.” Matt whispered.

They slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter isn't quite done yet, so don't expect an update tomorrow. I just figured I would go ahead and post the second chapter since it was done.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you Vasaris for the beta. Any mistakes that are left are entirely my own, because she's a badass.
> 
> Also, the reason that this story is now more than three chapters long is entirely EntangledWood's fault. I'm HOPING to wrap it up with just one more chapter, but I can't promise that. Especially with the new season becoming available in just a few hours.
> 
> Finally, this chapter contains a canon event that might be disturbing for some readers. Matt witnesses the sexual assault of a young girl whose father is abusing her. I was as vague as humanly possible, and nothing is explicit, but please proceed carefully.

Matt woke up to a very different world than the one he was used to.  His senses had always provided him with an impression of the world around him, one that Matt had once described to his priest as a world on fire.  With his mind now intimately entangled with Foggy’s, the world was no longer on fire.

The sheets on the bed didn’t rub his skin raw; the air was neither swelteringly hot nor frigidly cold; the voices out on the street were not setting his teeth on edge or making his head pound; the smell of his neighbor’s brewing coffee wasn’t enough to make him gag.  He could still sense everything, but it was muted and distant through the shielding that his new bond with Foggy gave him.  Instead of fire, it reminded Matt of the ocean: calm and soothing.

Foggy was already up, though how he’d escaped bed without waking him, Matt had no idea.  He was humming to himself in the kitchen as he made pancakes and bacon, the apartment full of the delicious scents of sizzling butter and maple syrup and  _ Foggy _ .  Matt crawled out of bed and followed his nose into the kitchen, where he wrapped his arms around Foggy’s middle and buried his face into his guide’s neck.

“Good morning!” Foggy said, chipper as always.  Matt had learned years ago that Foggy was a morning person.  Matt was the type of person who woke up in the morning because he felt he needed to, because he had a lot to do or because he wanted to go to mass, not because he enjoyed it.  Foggy got up every morning and rolled out of bed with a spring in his step.

“Morning,” Matt returned, in a quiet rumble that was further muffled by Foggy’s skin and hair.  “Smells good.”

“I do a mean morning fry up, Matt.  You know this.”

“No, I mean you smell good.  You smell like me.” Matt inhaled deeply, and felt his cock stirring.  “Like you’re mine.”

Foggy turned in his arms, his hands falling to rest on Matt’s hips.  Matt could feel the heat rising in his face that told him Foggy was blushing.  “I am yours.” Foggy assured him.  “Is it the same for you?  Do you smell like you’re mine.”

“Yes.” Matt had been able to smell Foggy on his skin since he’d woken.  He’d purposefully not showered the night before to let the smell of him sink as deeply as possible.  The dried sweat on his skin was somewhat irritating, but the reward was more than worth it.  “Sentinels will smell you on my skin.  Guides will feel your presence in my mind.”

“Good.” Foggy said, his fingers tightening on Matt’s hipbones, thumb pressing in.

Matt kissed him.  Because he was allowed to, because it’d been hours since the last time he’d done so, because he didn’t see any reason not to.  Foggy hummed into his mouth and they kissed lazily, until Matt’s nose twitched and he pulled back.  Foggy made a soft noise of protest and tried to reel him back in.

“Your pancakes are burning.” Matt said.

“Shit!” Foggy spun on heel and scurried to rescue their pancakes, getting them onto places with the bacon and toast.  “Did you want eggs?”

Matt moved over to the kitchen table, and sat down.  “No, this is fine.  Did you have plans for today?”

“We need to stop by work and register our bond with HR.  They’re legally obligated to give us time off to settle into our bond, but it’ll ruin our chances of getting on with them.” Foggy paused.  “Well,  _ my _ chances.  They’ll never hire me on as an associate now.”

Matt frowned. “Why not?”

“Its Landman & Zack, Matt.  They’ve never employed an online guide, and they aren’t going to start with me.” Foggy explained.

“That can’t be right.  An anti-guide policy like that is illegal.  The Center would crucify them.”

“Oh, it’s not an official policy, but an online guide wouldn’t be able to properly function in a place like Landman & Zack.  It’s corrupt to the bone.  I realized that immediately, but I’ve been latent and that makes a difference.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue with my internship after I begin to receive feedback from clients.”  Foggy cleared his throat.  Matt heard him set their plates down on the table, and then the creak of the chair as Foggy sat.  “That’s why you’ve struggled so much there, isn’t it?  Because you have low-level guide abilities.”

Sentinels with an empathic sixth-sense were rare, but not unheard of.  They were always alpha-level, though, and usually came online young.  Matt had never admitted to anyone that he had gifts usually associated with guides, though his dad might have figured it out before he died.  Matt knew that Foggy must have felt it in him when they’d bonded, and wasn’t surprised that Foggy was bringing it up.

“I don’t like ruining people’s lives.” Matt said, “But it is harder when I can feel what they’re going through.  I try to ignore it, so I can push through this internship.”

“Why didn’t you intern somewhere else?  I heard that even the Stark lawyers were flirting with you right before graduation.”

Matt shrugged.  “You had your heart set on Landman & Zack.”

“Would you have stayed on after the internship?  Even if it made you miserable?”

“Foggy.  The only thing that would have made me  _ miserable _ would have been trying to spend my entire day away from you.  I would have dropped out of law school and become a butcher right alongside you, if that’s what you decided you wanted to do.  I will  _ always _ follow you anywhere you want to go.  Working at Landman & Zack… It bothers me, yes.  It makes me feel guilty, but I’m a good Catholic and I excel at processing guilt.  If you decide to stay on with them, I’ll be okay.”

“Fuck that.” Foggy said immediately, and Matt had to laugh.  “So, no Landman & Zack.  What are our other options?”

“As you pointed out, Tony Stark’s team has shown an interest in me.  He’s always favored bonded sentinels and guides, and the benefits for working for Tony Stark are nothing short of amazing.  Most of what they deal with, though, amounts to PR and business law.  Neither are my specialty, or yours.”

Matt was pretty sure that Foggy had made a face at that. “Ugh, no thank you.  What else?”

“Well,” Matt said, and then hesitated.  Foggy kicked at his chair.

“Just spit it out, Matt.  Jesus.”

“We could start our own firm.” He said the words quickly, and then just went straight into defending the idea before Foggy could get a word in.  “Right here in Hell’s Kitchen.  We could help these people, Foggy.   _ Our _ people.  We could protect them, like we’re supposed to.”

“Nelson and Murdock,” Foggy said, and Matt could hear the smile in his voice.  “Avocados in law.”

Matt relaxed, sagging in his chair.  He knew he was grinning, too, smiling back at Foggy with relief and complete adoration.  “Yes, exactly.”

“I’m getting a sign that says that.”

“Nelson and Murdock? Go ahead.  It’ll look great.”

“No, avocados in law.  I’m going to paint our office walls avocado green.  I’m going to get curtains with tiny little avocados on them, put paintings of avocados on every wall.  It’ll be avocados  _ everywhere _ .”

“Go for it.  Won’t bother me a bit.”

“Ugh, you suck sometimes.  You won’t be able to appreciate the wonder of my decorating skillz.  Note the zee there.  The zee means they’re extra awesome.”

“I’ll appreciate your decorating _ skillz _ as much as I appreciate the billboard that cuts my rent in half.”

Foggy fidgeted.  His fork raked unpleasantly across the porcelain of his plate.  “About that.  This apartment is awesome, but that billboard is especially fugly and, unlike you, I can see it.  And it’s surprisingly bright at night, as it turns out.  Who puts neon lights on something like that?”

Matt had gone tense again.  He tried to force his muscles to relax, but couldn’t.  “Do you… Not want to live with me?”

“I do!  No, I totally do.  I don’t think that I could sleep without you.  I just… my place is shit, and that sign is horrible.  How about we just… find somewhere else/  The two of us. Together.  We could afford somewhere pretty nice between the two of us.”

“Okay.” Matt agreed immediately.  He wasn’t particularly attached to his apartment in any real way, and would have happily moved into Foggy’s apartment building if that’s what his guide had wanted.  Even though Foggy’s apartment building had hallways that smelled like vomit and heroin and suicide.  “We can do that”

“Okay.  Okay, good.  So, we go to Landman & Zack and register our bond, and then go apartment hunting.  Anything else?”

“I’d like to go see Peggy Carter.” Matt admitted.  “She used to be the Alpha of this area.  I met her once, when I was younger, and she was very kind to me.”

“We could totally do that.”

“But, first, after breakfast we need to mediate.  I’ll show you how to find your spirit animal.  I think it’s going to be a dog.”

“I’m not sure whether I should be offended or not.  Is it because I shed?”

Matt smiled, “You’re loyal, and you love people.  But, you can be protective of those that you care about and get territorial.”

“Well, I suppose I  _ am _ ferocious.”

“So ferocious.” Matt agreed.  Foggy tossed a piece of toast at him, and Matt caught it with his teeth.

Foggy huffed. “Show off.”

Matt grinned.  He quickly chewed and swallowed the bit of toast, and then jerked his head towards the front door.  “Also, your new body guards have been lingering in the hallway.  Are they going to move in with us, too?”

“Oh my God.  I forgot about Clint and Natasha.”

Matt laughed, and could hear the pair of sentinels outside his door laughing as well, as Foggy jumped up from his chair and ran to let them in. 

“Did you guys want breakfast?”

  
  
Alpha Sentinel Peggy Carter was housed in one of the Center’s permanent housing facilities.  She wasn’t catatonic, but did suffer from increasingly dangerous zone-outs and memory problems, and had gone feral twice in the six months since she’d lost her guide.

Her visitors were limited to close friends and family only, but Matt was very well-versed in Sentinel and Guide law and knew his rights as the Alpha Sentinel of the area.   _ Technically _ speaking, after losing her guide and her abilities to control herself, Peggy Carter was considered a ward and Matt could gain custody of her if he needed to.

The Center caretakers let Foggy and Matt in to see her without protest, and Clint and Natasha accompanied them.  They weren’t warned about her visitor, and Matt pushed Foggy behind him as soon as the scent of a man within the room hit him.  A second later,  _ guide _ and  _ pain  _ registered and he had to clench his teeth against the overwhelming desire to protect.  Two men, one guide and one sentinel, and the guide was projecting enough pain to drive an untrained sentinel into a feral drive.  Clint and Natasha both stiffened as they came into the room, but immediately relaxed.

“Steve,” That was Natasha, and she didn’t seem surprised.

“Natasha, Clint.  What are you doing here? Who’s this?” One of the guys said.

He sounded young, perhaps in his early twenties.  Matt tilted his head to the side, and tried to get a read on where the other man was in the room, but wasn’t able to do so.  He didn’t like not knowing where the threats were, and pushed Foggy further away, towards a corner.

“Alpha Sentinel Matt Murdock and Alpha Guide Franklin Nelson.  They’re the new Alphas of the Atlantic coast, and they’ve come to pay their respects to the former Alpha.” Natasha said.  “Matt, Foggy… This is Steve Rogers.  I believe you know him as Captain America.”

“No way!” Foggy stood up on his toes to look over Matt’s shoulder.  Matt could hear the smile in his voice, the excitement that picked up his heartbeat.

Matt could admit he was a little impressed himself.  His father had been a Captain America fan, but it wasn’t something the nuns had encouraged at the orphanage.  He’d taken a class in college that had required the reading of the Captain’s official biography.  If Steve Rogers was the sentinel in the room, then who was the guide?

“Who else is in the room?” Matt asked.

“What?” That was Foggy.  “Matt, there’s not… Sentinel Carter, us, and Mr, ah. Captain America.  That’s it.”

“There’s a guide in this room that isn’t you, Foggy.”

“That’s just Steve.” Clint sighed.  “Threw me off, too.”

“What?”

“I was born a guide.” Steve Rogers explained.  “The, um,  _ procedure  _ that I undertook was an experimentation in sentinel and guide genetics.  They introduced the sentinel genes to my DNA.  I even have a second spirit animal.”

Matt cocked his head. “That’s interesting.  Do you still require a bond to function optimally?  I have some limited guide gifts, myself, but I still need Foggy.”

The  _ pain _ and  _ grief _ swelled in the room, enough that Matt’s knees went a little weak and suddenly Foggy wasn’t so pleased to be meeting Captain America.

“Hey! Knock that off.  There are  _ four _ sentinels in this room that you could push over the edge with those pheromones, including Sentinel Carter who you could  _ damage _ severely.” Matt knew from the tone of his voice, that Foggy was glaring and Rogers shifted from foot-to-foot with obvious guilt.

“I’m sorry.  I… I had a sentinel, before the war.  I volunteered for the program to join him overseas, but he was killed.”

“He has a  _ guide _ now.” Natasha cut in.

“I don’t.” Rogers snapped. “I  _ won’t _ .  I had a sentinel.  I’ll have no other.”

Matt frowned.  Natasha clearly disproved, and Matt trusted her judgement.  She’d chosen to align with Foggy, a sign of her good judge of character.  Clint was furious, and not hiding it well.

“You’re a  _ sentinel _ , Steve,” Natasha tried, “And you have a duty to your guide.  Tony--”

“I’m never going to bond with Tony Stark.” Steve’s voice was clipped, closed off.

Foggy exhaled loudly and pushed Matt forward enough to slide out from behind him.  “Normally, I would say this wasn’t any of my business and go on my way.”

“No, you wouldn’t.” Matt pointed out. “You’re a terrible gossip.”

“I get it from my mother.” Foggy agreed.  “But that doesn’t matter.  Because I’m your Alpha, so it’s actually my business.  If you ever push a sentinel into a feral drive because you can’t get a hold of yourself, I’ll require you to bond or get out of my pride.  I won’t tolerate dangers to my pride.”

“I understand.” Steve said, with a nod.  “But I won’t bond again.”

 

  
Foggy forced Clint and Natasha to leave them alone for their trip to Landman & Zack.  They made their way up to HR without incident, registered their bond, and nearly made it back out of the office before Marci cornered them in the elevator.

Marci was brilliant, and sharp around the edges.  Matt had no way of knowing for certain without her showing him, but he was half-certain that her spirit animal was a shark.  It was the only thing that was fitting.

“So,” she said.  “You finally came online, Foggy Bear.”

“I did.  We were having lunch by Stark Tower during the Incident, and I came online in response.”

“You bonded with Murdock, of course.  That won’t be a surprise to anyone.  Murdock’s been claiming you in every way he could since the beginning.  It’s why I broke up with you.”

“We broke up because we weren’t compatible, Marci.”

“We weren’t compatible because of Murdock.”

“I’m right here.” Matt growled.

“That’s sort of my point.  You’ve obviously bonded, but you don’t smell any different than you always have, Foggy.  Murdock’s all over you, but he always has been.”

“He’s my sentinel.  Before I came online, it was the closest he could come to bonding.  What do you want, Marci?”

Marci laughed.  Matt had never thought it was pleasant sound, but Foggy didn’t flinch.  “I just wanted to congratulate you, Foggy Bear.  You’ll never take a permanent position at Landman & Zack now.  With you and Murdock out of the running, I’m the best intern here.  The associates position is as good as mine.”

“You’re really something, Marci.” Foggy said.  It wasn’t a compliment.

“We never would have made a good pair.” Marci said.

“No.  You don’t have enough of a heart.”

“That’s cruel, Foggy.”

“Maybe.  But, it’s also true.”

The elevator opened, and Foggy left.  Matt turned his head towards Marci, the illusion of looking at her.  “Good luck with the rest of your internship, Marci.”

“Good luck with the rest of your life, Murdock.”

Foggy was waiting outside the front doors, and took Matt’s hand when he came out.  He seemed upset, unsettled.

“Has she always been like that?” Foggy asked.

“Marci?  Like what?”

“She feels… cold and empty.  Nothing but hurt inside of her.”

“She’s online and unbonded, Foggy.  All sentinels have a spot inside of them that’s nothing but hurt until a guide fills it for them.”

“You didn’t.”

“I’m  _ your _ sentinel, Foggy.  You filled that spot up the moment you came online.”

“Its sad, isn’t it?  At any moment there are more online sentinels than guides… And all the unbonded ones are walking around in constant pain.”

“I think that’s going to change.” Matt admitted. “The City feels…  _ alive _ with guides.  I think more of them came online in the last few days than sentinels did.  Sentinels responded to the danger, but the guides responded to the  _ panic _ .  There’s so much panic, Foggy.  It's just getting worse.  Aliens and Gods and people with powers.”

“Like you.” Foggy whispered.

Matt swallowed hard.  “Not just me.”

  
  
They looked at six different apartments, but nothing met Foggy’s standards and they returned to Matt’s apartment.  It had been a long and exhausting day, so they got Thai on the way home, ate quietly at the couch, and then went straight to bed.  Matt wrapped an arm around Foggy’s middle, and pulled him close against his side.  He breathed in the comforting scent of his guide, and fell asleep with more ease than he ever had before.

He woke with a start, heart pounding and on the edge of feral.  He snarled and rolled off the bed, landed on the balls of his feet and took three steps towards the window before Foggy caught him by the wrist.

“Woah, woah,  _ Matt _ .  What’s going on?”

There was a girl, in the apartment across the street.  She was crying; it was the words “stop” and “father” that had woken Matt, and he was shaking with the rage that swept through him.  Her  _ father _ was…

“Matt.” Foggy said again. “Talk to me.”

“He’s going to rape her, Foggy.” Matt flinched at the sound of a zipper being undone, and took another step toward the window.  “His own daughter.”

Foggy exhaled. “You can’t just go kill him.  I know you want to, I know what your instincts are demanding.  But, you can’t.  There are laws in place.”

“I can’t do nothing!”

“We’ll call the police, and make a report.” Foggy tightened his hold on Matt’s wrist, and guided him back to the bed.  “They’re required to investigate any reports made by sentinels.”

“I can’t just sit here and, and do nothing.”

“Give me five minutes, Matt.” Foggy was already dialing the phone.  “Hello? Yes, this is Alpha Guide Foggy Nelson. My sentinel is nearly  _ feral _ .  There’s a man sexually abusing his daughter across the street.”

The noises from across the street grew obscene, and Matt pulled his hearing in as much as possible, until all he could hear was Foggy’s heartbeat and voice.  He clenched his hands into the mattress until his fingers were numb and his forearms ached.

Foggy joined him on the bed.  “The police are coming. It’s going to be okay.  They’ll take her away from there, get her somewhere safe.”

The girl cried, and Matt heard it as clearly as if she was in the room with them.  With sudden clarity, he knew he wouldn’t be able to block her out.  She was a guide.

But, that was good. That worked in Matt’s favor.  Guide law was very clear, and sentinels were allowed to use all the force necessary to protect a guide.  He stood up, cleared the room in less than six stride, and jumped through the window.  He grabbed the railing of the fire escape with both hands, and swung his body down.  He was on the street in seconds, Foggy calling after him, but his blood was rushing hotly and he couldn’t think past the instincts that were demanding he rescue the girl.

He climbed in her bedroom window, and snapped her father’s neck.

“Alpha,” the girl sobbed.  She threw herself at Matt, and he caught her easily.  She sobbed into his shoulder, and Matt picked her up carefully.

He met her mother in the hall.  The woman screamed when she saw him. “What are you doing with my daughter? Put her down!”

Matt pushed her aside easily.  He could hear Foggy coming up the hall, and opened the front door just as his mate reached it.  Foggy inhaled sharply at the sight of the girl; he knew instantly what she was.

“My name is Franklin Nelson, and as the Alpha Guide of New York City, I’m taking immediate custody of this young guide for her own safety.  I find this home to be  _ intolerable _ .”

“You can’t just take my daughter!” The woman shouted. “Donald! Donald, get in here. Where are you, Donald?”

“Your husband is your daughter’s room.  It’s not the first time he’s gone in there this late, either, but it will be the last.  I eliminated  _ that _ threat.” Matt shifted the girl slightly.  Her skinny arms were locked tightly around his neck, to the point that breathing was almost difficult, but he couldn’t ask her to let go.

“You… Oh my God.” The woman stumbled down the hall, and three seconds later let out a shriek when she found her husband’s body.

A police car arrived outside, and Matt walked down the stairs to meet it.

  
  
Foggy’s spirit animal was a small dog with long ears and soft, fluffy fur.  Matt didn’t know what color the little thing was, or what breed, but it was an exuberant and happy thing.  The little girl Matt had rescued was named Megan, and she loved Foggy’s spirit animal.  He crawled into her lap, licked her face, and Megan relaxed for the first time since her father had first come into her bedroom.

Foggy watched her carefully through a two-way mirror, and Matt kept a careful ear on her.  A representative from the Center was sitting in with her, an older guide that also worked for the state of New York’s CPS department.  He had a nice, calm aura that Megan was reacting well to, but she still shied away from physical contact.

She’d come online a little more than a month ago, and in less than a week her father had visited her bedroom for the first time.  It was a hideous situation, and there was a distinct possibility that Megan might be damaged by what she’d been exposed to.  When a sentinel was damaged, they became dormant, but a guide had no such protections.

“Her mother is demanding Matt’s arrest.” Sue Storm told them.  “And she wants to see her daughter immediately.”

“I don’t care what that woman wants. She’s not going anywhere near Megan.” Foggy said.  Matt leaned into him and nodded his agreement.

“Megan’s been identified as a guide, and Matt was within his rights as a sentinel to defend her in any way he felt necessary.  Are you willing to take custody of Megan?”

“Yes.” Matt said instantly.

Foggy made a noise of surprise, but then gave his immediate approval.  “If it’ll keep her safe, then, yes, of course.”

“As the Alphas of her pride, you two are the  _ only _ ones that can claim custody of her aside from the state, and if Mr. Ducraw feels that the state doesn’t have enough evidence that her mother is a danger to her… They’ll return her to the custody of her mother.”

“Her mother is the one that just let her father hurt her!” The idea of sending Megan back to that place left him furious to the point that he was once again shaking.  Foggy took his hand, and Matt forced himself to breathe deeply and focus his senses on his guide.  The grounding ritual was new to him, but came easily.

“We can’t be sure that Megan’s mother was aware of what was happening to her daughter.” Sue said.  She didn’t sound like she believed that herself, but Sue was known for playing the devil’s advocate.

“We’ll ask Megan.” Foggy decided.  “The greater danger was her father, and that threat was removed.  If she wants to return to her mother’s home, she can… But Matt and I will be keeping a close eye on her.”

Sue nodded. “That seems like a good plan.  It seems that Mr. Ducraw has finished his interview with Megan.”

Ducraw left the interview room and came around to speak with them instead.  “Megan seems to be in good condition, considering.  She’s considerably powerful for a guide her age, and has developed strong shields on her own.  What she endured from her father was terrible, but thankfully she seems to have been spared from the experience of feeling his attraction to her.  She’s been through an ordeal, but I believe she’ll be able to recover.”

“And you suggestion for custody?”

“I don’t think returning to her mother’s home would benefit her.  She doesn’t feel safe there, and wishes to stay with Matt and Foggy.  She trusts them a great deal.”

“I want to speak with her.” Matt said.

“She feels very helpless.” Foggy added. “We want to give her all the control over the situation that we can.  She needs that.”

“It’s a good idea.” Ducraw admitted.

Matt slipped into the room with Megan, and Foggy followed behind.  The little dog in Megan’s lap gave a sharp bark, and Matt felt its presence recede from the room.  Foggy sat at the table across from the girl, while Matt circled around to kneel on the ground in front of her.

“Megan.”

“Alpha Matt.”  Her face warmed, and she turned her head towards Foggy.  “Alpha Foggy.  I like your puppy.  He’s very friendly.”

“Thank you.  I met him only very recently but I’m pretty fond of him.  Have you found your spirit animal yet?”

Megan shook her head. “Mama didn’t want to bring me to the Center for lessons.”

“Matt and I will see that you’re properly educated.” Foggy promised.  “But we have something else to ask you first.”

Matt took Megan’s hand.  It was very small in his own, but she didn’t flinch from his touch or pull away.  He could feel her explicit trust in him.  “You have a choice, Megan.  Your dad is gone and he’s never going to hurt you again, so if you want you can go home to your mother.  Or, you can come home with Foggy and I.”

Megan threw herself into Matt’s arms, like she had before.  Her arms were once again tight around his neck.  “I wanna stay with you and Alpha Foggy.  Please. Don’t make me go back there.”

Foggy joined them, touching Megan lightly on her hair.  “Then you will stay with us.”


End file.
